Simon Cowell is ready to take America by storm yet again with the fall premiere of The X Factor. This time, Cowell is opening up the audition process to contestants 12 years old and up and promising a $5 million recording contract to the winner.

The British music mogul told reporters that he’s ready for a new challenge. Plus, his thoughts on the newest season of American Idol.

Bringing The X-Factor to America.

“We’ve been thinking about this show for a few years now, about whether we should do it or not do it in America, and we made the decision last year that we were going to do it. Now that I have my head around it, I’m excited and I think we’re going to do something different. The stakes are high. I put my trust in the American audience. I have done that for ten years and will continue to.”

Could Paula Abdul be headed to The X-Factor?

“I’m a massive fan of Paula. It’s quite unusual – when you work with somebody for as long as I did with Paula, we were friends on the show for I’d say 80% of the time, and then interestingly, afterwards we’ve been in regular contact. I’m not going to say who we are going to confirm or who we’re not going to confirm because the truth is, we honestly haven’t made our minds up yet. We’re talking to a number of people, and I expect to make an announcement I would say within three to four weeks.”

“I think it comes down to who I think is interesting, but the most important criteria for this show is the commitment and the expertise each person offers. I need to find someone who’s willing to make that commitment because it is hard work. It’s really, really important that I have people I can trust in terms of their expertise, their gut feeling. That’s why it’s a difficult decision, when you’re putting a team around you. I also think it’s important on a show like this that you have people who are very competitive with each other. It also helps that they’re cute.”

Despite the success of Idol, he’s nervous about his new gig.

“I kind of feel at the moment like I did when we were launching American Idol: I was excited about the show, I was excited about the prospects, but I hadn’t a clue whether it was going to be a hit or whether we were going to be kicked out of the country after three weeks. I remember the network put a one-month break clause in the house I was renting, which shows at the time I don’t think they were particularly convinced either.”

“Well, I haven’t seen a full episode yet. I think from what I’ve seen, from what I’ve heard, it all seems to be going well. I always thought that would be the case. What I was more concerned about was the ratings falling off a cliff, meaning that that whole genre is now over. I think the good news is that people are still excited about these shows, whether it be that show, Dancing with the Stars, which has definitely gotten better over the years, America’s Got Talent, which the ratings have gone up over the years. People, thank God, still like these shows, and that gives me more confidence when we launch ours.”

How The X-Factor will differ from other reality competition shows.

“It’s difficult to put into words. I suppose it’s rather like comparing Extreme Home Makeover with Jersey Shore. I mean, they’re both reality shows, but they’re very, very different. The X-Factor has a craziness about it. There’s an unpredictability about it. I would say it’s more raw. It’s very much more competitive because of the fact that the judges have to mentor. It’s more personal because there’s a point in the show where some of the finalists go to the judges’ homes and each judge will then make a selection as to who’s going into the finals. You’re going to see a very, very different live experience to anything you’re used to seeing on American TV.”

“The reason we decided to do this was to show the people who are auditioning for the show that sometimes you have to put your money where your mouth is. By putting up that kind of prize money, it’s a massive, massive risk, but it’s also an incredible incentive. I think it puts everybody under an enormous amount of pressure. I also did it because I believe I can find a star. And I think it should be a life-changing prize.”

Opening up the auditions to 12-year-olds.

“I thought long and hard about this. I think probably five or six years ago I wouldn’t have done it. Through experience, when I worked on Britain’s Got Talent and what happened this year on America’s Got Talent, there are some incredibly talented young kids out there and because I work for a record label, over the last 12 months we’ve started to see a trend of what kids this age are capable of doing. I went on record years ago saying I think it’s wrong to have people around this age doing it, and now I think times have changed.”

Who he thinks has the “x” factor.

“There are tons. Anyone from Beyonce to Rihanna to The Black Eyed Peas, Justin Bieber, the Glee cast. This is a good time for the music business right now. It kind of feels that we’ve come out of this grey period into a very, very fun, extreme time again. I think records have gotten better, the artists have gotten better, they’re unique.”

Calling all Gleeks.

“I’m most excited in a way about the groups. I’d love the idea of finding a great group at the moment. There’s a whole history of anything from the Jackson 5 to *NSYNC or recently, The Black Eyed Peas or Destiny’s Child selling all over the world, and that’s what I want to find on this show. I would even say to schools across the country – I’m seeing this a lot on YouTube now – how choirs have suddenly become really interesting, very contemporary. I’d invite them to come along on audition as well. I’d love to find something like that, something different.”

AMG/Parade Digital

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